News Summary

Proposal would add e-cigarettes to Illinois smoking ban

Publication Date: 2015-02-17

Smokers who favor electronic cigarettes could be pushed outside under an Illinois lawmaker's proposal.

State Rep. Kathleen Willis wants the use of e-cigarettes, called vaping, to be subject to the same laws that prevent indoor smoking in public places, the (Springfield) State Journal Register (http://bit.ly/1FXtCBO ) reports.

The Democrat from Addison is sponsoring a bill that would extend the state ban on indoor secondhand smoke in public places to the electronic devices, which are marketed as a safer alternative to smoking.

The measure, if it becomes law, would amend the Smoke Free Illinois Act of 2007 to include e-cigarettes. Theatrical productions and shops that sell the devices would be exempt.

Willis said it took a long time to prove secondhand was dangerous and that the public does not know "what the long-term health effects are."